To: BSE-L@UNI-KARLSRUHE.DE
##################### Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy #####################
Italy identifies 123rd BSE case
by Pete Hisey on 10/6/04 for
Meatingplace.com
Italian authorities have uncovered another case of bovine spongiform
encephalopathy, the 123rd found since testing began in 2001 and the
sixth this year.
The country has tested some 580,000 head of cattle so far in 2004 under
a European Union regulation that requires BSE tests for all cattle over
30 months of age headed for slaughter, according to the Canadian Press.
Italy has recorded at least two deaths due to the human form of BSE,
variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, the last a 27-year-old woman in Milan
in August of 2003, but Italian authorities believe many others died
prior to the discovery in 2001 of BSE in cattle.
Ironically, Italian authorities had boasted on September 15 of this year
that "the Mad Cow BSE disease is no longer a threat" within Italy. The
Ministry of Health pointed to the 2,516,453 BSE tests conducted since
the discovery of BSE in the country, with only 123 cases identified.
That report, issued by news agency AGI for the office of the prime
minister, claimed that 123 cases had already been discovered; other
sources say that the real number was 122.
TSS
http://www.meatingplace.com/DailyNews/init.asp?iID=13158
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